Dependence of electrical and optical properties of sol–gel prepared undoped cadmium oxide thin films on annealing temperature

Abstract The effect of the annealing temperature (Ta) on the optical, electrical and structural properties of the undoped cadmium oxide (CdO) thin films obtained by the sol–gel method, using a simple precursor solution, was studied. All the CdO films annealed in the range from 200 to 450 °C are polycrystalline with (111) preferential orientation and present high optical transmission > 85% for wavelengths above 500 nm. The resistivity decreases as Ta increases until it reaches a value of 6 × 10− 4 Ω cm for Ta = 350 °C. For higher temperatures the resistivity experiences a slight increase. Images obtained by atomic force microscopy show an evident incremental change of the aggregate size (clusters of grains) as Ta increases. The grain size also increases when Ta increases as observed in data calculated from X-ray measurements.